Subject:
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Re: Thoughts on prayer
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 10 Apr 2001 15:09:28 GMT
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Viewed:
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120 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Daniel Jassim writes:
> Greetings! I noticed so many interesting posts regarding spirituality here
> so I thought I'd start a discussion about prayer. One day my wife was
> telling me about one of her friends at work, an older Christian woman. She
> is a very nice woman, perhaps a little bit of a bigot, but always telling my
> wife how she's praying for this or that. Lately, she says she prays for our
> baby. Of course, my wife appreciates the kind gesture, and doesn't bring up
> the fact that she doesn't believe in God. Nor do I for that fact. However,
> it got me thinking about how people view prayer.
Some years ago a friend who'd done some study on the matter defined black
magic (as many sources do) as the practice of ritual or enchantment without
the permission and/or knowledge of the intended recipient. By this
definition, prayer without the consent or knowledge of the recipient is
black magic. I know that not everyone defines it that way, and I'm not
trying to convince anyone that they should, but it's interesting to hear
another perspective on what many consider to be a kind and charitable act...
> I've even watched pro athletes give praise to God and Jesus for hearing their
> prayers so they could win the championship.
Or when boxers thank the Lord for giving them the strength to beat their
oponents into unconsciousness!
> Last thought: People are still debating prayer in school. I say why not
> allow a moment of silence? If kids want to pray, let them go for it
> (silently). If others want to take a deep breath, relax and clear their
> worries, even better. But saying it's unconstitutional is plain wrong to me.
I'm not up on the latest legalities, but my understanding is that while
_organized_ prayer is not permitted, individuals can pray to their souls'
content. The problem arises not simply through the presence of prayer in
the public (ie: government sponsored) institution; when the institution
itself puts forth a prayer, that prayer becomes by definition state-sponsored.
> After all, doesn't our money say "In God we trust"?
I've reflected on this point at various times in my life. I'm not really
offended by it, since I'm not too concerned personally about what's printed
on my dollar as long as it's accepted as coin of the realm. However, a
literal reading (perhaps by some alien race that isn't convinced of our
dominion over them) could suggest that the currency is itself the "God" in
which we trust.
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Thoughts on prayer
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| (...) When my mom says she prays for me, I equivocate it with saying "My thoughts and hopes are with you." In that sense, any sort of prayer (whether it's praying to God, Jesus, Shivva, Buddha, poking pins in voodoo dolls, doing a rain dance, (...) (24 years ago, 10-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Thoughts on prayer
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| Greetings! I noticed so many interesting posts regarding spirituality here so I thought I'd start a discussion about prayer. One day my wife was telling me about one of her friends at work, an older Christian woman. She is a very nice woman, perhaps (...) (24 years ago, 10-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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